Technology Reporter

NBN Co has awarded $180 million worth of construction contracts for ten satellite ground stations to two medium-sized firms. It is the first NBN Co contract for both firms.

Melbourne’s Cockram Corp will build six transmission stations spread across NSW, Queensland, Tasmania and South Australia. And Perkins construction company from Bunbury in Western Australia will build four satellite transmission stations in WA, where the towns of Geraldton, Carnavon and Kalgoorlie have already been selected as sites.

Up to 30 people will be needed to build each station and NBN Co estimates about 60 people will be employed nationwide to manage the service. Each transmission station will contain a 13.5 metre high antenna.

The contracts are worth about $180 million in total and were awarded by competitive tender. The total cost of building, launching and activating the satellites will be about $2 billion to provide services to 200,000 people living in remote Australia and external territories.

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Satellite users will pay the same basic access price as people using NBN Co’s fixed wireless in regional towns or fibre optic cables in cities.

NBN Co is currently re-selling satellite broadband to about 17,000 people from an AUSTAR satellite. This interim service delivers broadband at peak speeds of 6 megabits per second (Mbps), but NBN Co will offer speeds of up to 12 Mbps when its own equipment is launched in 2015. US-based company Space Systems/Loral is currently building two new satellites for NBN Co for $620 million.

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